Gracepoint season 1: Five problems with Broadchurch’s US remake

David Tennant reprises his Broadchurch role (bottom) in Gracepoint, the US remake (top) (Picture: Fox/ITV1)

Here’s the British way of doing things. We sit in front of our TV, we watch an amazing American show and we love it.

We might then create several dramas that are heavily influenced by the American original, but crucially, we don’t feel the need to make a scene by scene copy. Sadly, America doesn’t seem to feel the same about our shows.

Like us, they were wowed by Broadchurch, when it aired to multiple award winning acclaim last year. But where us Brits just wanted a second series, the US decided to make it’s own.

So now we have Gracepoint and after watching the trailer, here are five problems I have with the show.

1. David Tennant

David Tennant has an American accent (Picture: Fox)

OK, I have no problem with the marvellous David Tennant scoring a lead role in a major American drama. I’m thrilled for him. The trouble is that he’s playing exactly the same character in Gracepoint as he did in Broadchurch, just with an American accent.

The accent’s good, but isn’t it a bit boring for him, doing the same scenes in a different voice? Broadchurch was one of the rare occasions when Tennant got to speak with his natural, Scottish accent, so hearing him become Americanised makes me a little sad.

2. The beach scene

As I said before, the trailer shows many scenes that are almost identical to the originals from Broadchurch.

While I’m sure Gracepoint will be gripping for new fans, anyone who watched Broadchurch is going to be dogged by dejà vu.

There’s a short clip of the infamous beach scene in the trailer. If you’ve seen Jodie Whittaker’s performance in Broadchurch, you’ll know that it was one of those stand out, only seen once in a lifetime moments of TV drama. To watch someone else try and replicate it, just feels off.

3. New twists and turns

Apparently, although the first few episodes stick very closely to Broadchurch, Gracepoint does veer off into its own story with several twists and turns not in the original.

This might not seem to be a bad thing, but remember how perfectly the story unfolded first time round?

Why mess about with something that had been so carefully plotted? There’s no word yet as to whether they’ve changed the outcome, but I kind of hope they haven’t. Awful though the reveal was (no spoilers) it did add up.

4. No Olivia Colman

No Olivia Colman – but she is in a second series of Broadchurch (Picture: ITV)

No offence meant to the American cast, who I’m sure are all excellent, but the one thing that will always make Broadchurch beat Gracepoint hands down is Olivia Colman.

Already a national treasure (even though she’s really far too young) Colman deservedly picked up about a million awards for her role as DS Ellie Miller. I’m only exaggerating slightly there. Seriously, no Colman in Gracepoint is not a good thing.

5. Hollywood style

(Picture: Fox)

Broadchurch did help popularise a more cinematic style of filming in TV, but the Gracepoint trailer really seems to have gone down the Hollywood route, all dramatic pauses and short statements.

I was surprised not to hear the famous ‘Hollywood deep voice’ doing commentary over the top. One of the best things about Broadchurch was the way the story developed fairly slowly over eight episodes. I worry that by filming in a more Hollywood style, the story might start feeling rushed and some of those crucial smaller moments that made Broadchurch so special might be lost.

So, I’m not bowled over by Gracepoint based on the trailer, the American reincarnation of Broadchurch. I think it’s unnecessary and all a bit odd. But for David Tennant’s sake, not to mention the legacy of the original, I hope it does well.

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